Stopped in for an early (11.30am) lunch with the Magyar wife and our 2 y.o. half breed son; were told that lunch wasn't served til 11.50 (kind of a nice round number for starting lunch, eh?). So in the interim we sat down and ordered a freshly squeezed OJ for the kiddo, a latte machiatto for the wife, and a plain old acua frizzante for me (note to earlier reviewer: if it's THAT big a deal that you got San Benedetto instead of San Pelligrino, then you're pickier than 99.9% of all the Italians that I know, and I know alot of them working for an Italian company stateside)................
Drinks arrived at a leisurely pace, probably due to the time required for the OJ. Problem was, they probably made the latte first and let it sit around for the 11 minutes it took to separate the skins from their nectar, and the temperature of the latte suffered accordingly-by the time they brought it to the table it was lukewarm at best. Hey, stuff happens, right? We asked the waitress (good thing the wife was there as the waitress' English was 'nem yol') to please take it back and warm it up. Which they did, but in the microwave........so as any rookie coffee aficionado will tell you, combining 1800 watts of long wave radiation with milk foam for a couple minutes results in, well, a piping hot liquid with a curdled and congealed mess of milk solids on top. Kinda yucky if you know what I mean. Given the choice of a tepid LIQUID latte and a scalding coffee-like drink with an island of curds on top, I think that most of us will take the former hands down.
But this story has a happy ending ending. (I have to interject here that I've never written a review before, for TA or any other website, and the only reason I'm writing this one is because afore mentioned 2 y.o.son is napping contentedly and the wife is down at the local szalon getting her hair done.) The waitress, after being explained that the proper way to reheat the beverage is to just simply insert the frothing wand into the drink and blast it for a few seconds with steam), took it away and brought a brand spanking new L.M. at the correct temperature--warm enough to heat up your Budapest-in-December cold palms, but not hot enough to prevent a careful sip.
The pastas (spaghetti carbonara and ravioli primavera) were very good, cooked perfectly for me but not the wife (al dente is the way to go but Hunkies like my wife want their pastas practically Chef Boyardee-like in softness), and served with some freshly grated Parmesan on the side. Yummy, just the way Italian is supposed to be, simple dishes cooked simply with the freshest ingredients.
Total damage was a very reasonable 4600 ft, twenty-something Washingtons without the tip with which, by the way and don't let anybody tell you different, any waiter or waitress in Hungary will be happy in the 10% range. Unless of course you want to impress upon Szilvie that you're Mr. Moneybags or want to ask her out later for a drive in your A8..........
As we were bundling up to brave the mean streets of V Kerulet, one of the owners of the shop, the front man Mario (his partner Gianni is the guy in the kitchen, hence the name of the establishment, Caffe Gian Mario) came over to chat. Probably wanted to see who the jerks were who sent the latte back or something. Really nice chap. We wound up buying not one, but TWO Lavazza espresso machines (one for our flat in District 1--our Hungo-made 2 year old no-name unit bought at Saturn finally brewed its last doppo, and one for a gift for the in laws) for a very reasonable price of a little under 30,000 ft each. It included 100 pods each and 2 cups, saucers, and spoons. It was a deal we couldn't refuse, even if it didn't come from a guy named Vito.......
We'll be back to see Mario soon to try the pizzas!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
